You're probably already ahead of me on this one. Upworthy is quickly being thought of as Upworthless for its shameless click-bait headlines that entice readers to visit the site.

We've all seen the links to Upworthy videos, primarily on our Facebook feeds. They go something like:

9 Out Of 10 Americans Are Completely Wrong About This Mind-Blowing Fact

Bully Calls News Anchor Fat, News Anchor Destroys Him On Live TV

You Won’t Believe What The Chinese Government Did To These 26 Million Children

For a while, the videos being shared on Upworthy were, well, worthy. They managed to tug at emotional heartstrings and with socially-conscious videos, they made us want to take action. They gave us hope, brought joy by sharing something positive, stood for something such as anti-bullying, and the like.

While one could argue that it's the emotional sentiment and appeal to curiosity that get to us (which is true), the other more technical answer(see Fast Company article) is that social networks have made the spread of such material that much easier. From the way the headlines and other meta data are displayed to the ability (or inability) to play videos from the site directly in the networks ensures that sites like Upworthy drive traffic to their own sites. Traffic from social networks like Facebook and Twitter has risen by 170% over the last year.

While humans will always love a good story, it's clear that they prefer not to be set up as dullards who require such obvious clickbait to read or watch one. Marketers, media and journalists should pay heed. If you want to attract the lowest common denominator to your sites, such headlines may ensure it.

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Hi, I'm Scott. This is my personal site, where I share my perspectives on business, technology, communications, marketing and the vast changes in the industry that impact leadership. All views are my own. If you're interested in Sherlock Holmes, see my other site, I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere.